‘Elyujine of the Contract’

It’s an anime about girls who form contracts with monsters and stand up to a great evil…

That kind of classic, straightforward story.

It was quietly gaining popularity as a late-night anime and even after the original work ended, it continued for about three seasons, with a sequel also announced.

I was one of those fans, you could say.

B-but then

The next time I opened my eyes, it wasn’t at home but on completely unfamiliar ground under a night sky full of beautiful stars.

And then——

“...Where?——— Huh”

The voice that came out of me was insanely high.

Huh? That’s weird. I was a guy, you know?

I tried to look at my face reflected in a nearby puddle, but when I tried to raise my hips from lying on my back, I couldn’t put any strength into it and ended up rolling over face-down.

“——Huh?”

It’s not just that I can’t put strength in… isn’t this body not even mine to begin with? I realized.

While I stayed confused and couldn’t move from here, a voice came from the puddle.

“——●●,●”●●●●●●?”

I couldn’t make out a single word, but I could tell it was asking me something.

In Elyujine of the Contract, someone on the verge of death can, as a salvation measure in this world, form a contract with a nearby monster, or with a monster they choose.

A contract is just a verbal promise, but in order to fulfill that wish, the monster will usually do everything it can.

However, after fulfilling the wish, that monster’s power increases dramatically. It might wreak destruction without limit, or even try to conquer the world.

That’s why, in this world, contracts have to be made carefully.

Also, through a contract, you become able to use that monster’s power.

As the bond of trust grows, you can extend the contract period, or even form new contracts.

Which also means there are people who end contracts quickly and go on rampages.

Defeating people like that was the role of the main cast of Elyujine, the so-called proper contractors, commonly known as Contractors.

So, uh, then, this

Could it be…

“...The world of Elyujine?”

“●●●●? ●●)●●”

The voice I could hear nearby got even closer. So this is the monster?

Then am I dying right now!?

I can’t even move to check. Now that I think about it, my stomach hurts.

Hunger…

I accepted that, then looked again toward where the voice was coming from.

It was undeniably an orca.

“...An orca??”

Wasn’t that puddle ridiculously shallow?

Even as I stared in shock, my consciousness was steadily fading away.

I finally got to come to this world, so I want to enjoy it more before I die!!!

Um… what do you say when you form a contract again…

Ah, right.

I held out my hand toward the orca in front of me and murmured,

“Contract.”

In that instant, my vision was swallowed by light and I was taken to what you’d call a mental world.

As I came to, the first thing I saw was black hair with a white streak and then… a big dorsal fin and tail fin behind her.

Well, given the situation, it was probably that orca from before.

“....Domo, Contractor-sama.”

Looking at me, she said that. So that orca was a girl. Cute.

In this world, a contract involves answering what you wish for and why you want it and then the other side decides how much power they’ll lend you.

So basically, I was probably brought here to do that.

As an aside, since this place isn’t reality, you can pull out whatever you want. In season one of the anime, the protagonist pulled out sweets and used them to tame a monster, a griffin.

A monster getting bought off with candy is also something, though.

I’d been wanting to confirm myself the whole time, so I pulled out a hand mirror and looked at my face.

“Huh.”

In one word, a sickly girl. I looked so fragile I felt like I might vanish.

This is… me?

“Sorry to interrupt while you’re surprised, but it’s a contract. Still, I’ll ask anyway—why were you dying? The location’s weird too.”

She asked in a slightly weary voice.

Hmm, what should I do?

Saying I just noticed I was here might be fun in its own way, but…

Alright, I’ve decided.

I—no, I’m going to live as this girl from now on, since this is what I look like.

I’ll do what you’d call roleplay.

It’s not like I have regrets about the other world… though I did kind of want to see the final season….

Yeah.

I had a dream.

A wish to be loved by someone with a good-looking face, if I could.

Maybe I can make it come true now. I’m not a guy and more than anything, I look like this.

In that case, I’ll need a solid backstory.

I rushed to get my brain working, built a setting inside my head and decided to talk.

“I’m… a cursed child, they said… My mother kept hitting me over and over… saying ‘If you weren’t here!! I got kicked out of the house and a kind person picked me up, but that person got taken away by a monster, toward the mountains. I looked for them, but I couldn’t find them… and then I got hungry and when I came to, you were there.”

How’s that! The story I came up with using my fragile brain!!

I wait for her reaction.

…She doesn’t speak. I can tell she’s muttering in a voice I can’t make out while looking down, but I can’t hear anything else at all.

No way—did she see through my made-up story?

If so, I’ll be a complete laughingstock. This is bad!

I try to find an excuse and start to speak—

“Um…”

“..It’s fine.”

We spoke at the same time.

After an awkward beat, the orca started talking again.

“I’ll contract with you. Tell me your wish quickly and of course, the reason too.”

Thank goodness! Looks like I didn’t get found out. I was relieved she accepted it.

If I say my real wish here, she’ll just look at me with contempt and that’ll be it.

Think. How do I do this?

Think it through.

I look closely at the face that’s watching me. So cute!!

…Wait, then I want to be loved by this girl too.

I’ve decided.

“So I can live as myself, I want to borrow your power.”

“....More specifically?”

“I want to be able to save the people I can save right in front of me.”

I stare straight into her eyes. I heard somewhere that in times like this, if you mix a bit of truth into a lie as an accent, it becomes easier to believe.

“...What kind of power do you want?”

Wisdom, physical strength, talent—what people want differs. One swordsman wished for talent with the sword, one old man wished for omniscience.

Also, there’s a trick to this. It’s something you’d only see in the official fanbook, but it got used as they approached the final arc.

If you impose a disadvantage on yourself, the upper limit of the power you can be granted rises.

The higher it is, the greater your growth potential becomes.

No reason not to use it. And it’s easier to apply to my real wish too.

“Each time I use it, you can eat part of my body… so I want regeneration and that skill.”

“....Oh?”

She finally looked like she was interested and moved closer.

“Are you sure? You don’t have to be considerate about your wish.”

“It’s fine. I’m the one borrowing it… and if I die, it’s over anyway, so let’s keep it fair.”

She studies me with the eyes of someone looking at something interesting.

“....Distorted, unclear, unrecognizable…”

She’s muttering again…

After a little while, she smiled and said this.

“Alright, then we’ll say the contract is formed.”

“Thank you.”

“Oh, right, we still haven’t introduced ourselves. I’m Aruka.”

“What’s your name? I can’t keep calling you ‘you.’”

“....My name.”

I’d never thought about it. I don’t want to use my previous life’s name and I don’t have any good naming sense.

As I hummed and groaned over it—

“....If you don’t have one, want me to give you one?”

Looks like she’ll name me.

“Please.”

“....Hmm. Then, Karua. From today on, your name is Karua.”

Karua… it sounds nice.

She just said it by flipping Aruka around, though.

“Karua… Karua… From today on, I’m Karua.”

“Good. Now we’ve officially formed a contract. Entertain me, okay? Karua.”

With that, she said it with a goofy grin. I tried to say something back, but light covered my body again and I was returned to the original place.

* * *

I learned later, but naming in this world holds tremendous power and later it gets a little complicated, but that’s a story for another time.